Apr 4/09

My snowman ornament project has been coming along nicely. I have 3.5 more to cross stitch before I start the back stitching and assembly. My focus needs to be redirected to the research paper that I am doing on microfinance which is due on April 14th. To that end, I am searching the Internet for criticisms of microfinance institutions like Kiva to round out some of my thoughts before opening up the laptop and writing today. While I was beginning my search, I logged into my Kiva account and realized that I had not donated to any African borrowers when I had started my first round of loans. My initial loan was disbursed to Cambodia, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Lebanon. Recently, enough of the loans were paid back that I could make another loan to a borrower in Pakistan. Today, I added Senegal and Mongolia. So, for US$150 I have hopefully made a difference for seven families around the world. I am well aware of the criticisms of microfinance and its limitations, but I am also well aware that many of these people would not be able to access credit otherwise. Here in Canada, we can so easily access credit cards and lines of credit to keep our households and businesses going when there is a downturn in income. We have social safety nets to catch us when we stumble or need help. So many people in the world do not have these opportunities.